2012 TCN/Scout.com Cards All-Prospect Team

Our annual ranking of the top prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system by position.

The subject here in the 46th article in our Top 40 St. Louis Cardinals Prospects for 2012 series is the top organizational minor league prospects by position.

The selection process is most straightforward. We have already unveiled our top 40 prospects in the system via the “40 Days, 40 Nights, 40 Prospects” series. Putting together this year’s All-Prospect Team is as simple as culling the top-ranked player at each position from that top 40.

For 2012, The Cardinal Nation/Scout.com St. Louis Cardinals All-Prospect Team has been expanded from 11 to 12 players – eight position players, including two corner outfielders considered as one group, plus four pitchers – left and right-handed starters and relievers. The left-handed reliever, a constant challenge for the organization, is included separately for the first time. Listed are each player’s overall ranking in the top 40, age and predominant level played in 2011, as measured by at-bats or innings pitched.

The Cardinal Nation/Scout.com St. Louis Cardinals 2012 All-Prospect Team

Position	Player	Rank	Age	11 Lvl
Catcher	Tony Cruz	16	25	AAA
First Base	Matt Adams	9	23	AA
Second Base	Kolten Wong	4	21	A
Shortstop	Ryan Jackson	13	23	AA
Third Base	Zack Cox *	5	22	AA
Corner Outfield	Oscar Taveras *	3	19	A
Corner Outfield	Anthony Garcia	22	19	R
Centerfield	Charlie Tilson	15	19	R
LH Starter	John Gast *	21	22	A+
RH Starter	Shelby Miller *	1	21	AA
LH Reliever	Sam Freeman	34	24	AA
RH Reliever	Eduardo Sanchez *	7	22	MLB

In an indication of considerable stability at the top of the prospect rankings, five of the 11 possible are holdovers from last year (noted by * above), with seven new to the All-Prospect Team.

Top prospect Shelby Miller earns his third consecutive berth. In other words, the Texan has been the system’s top-ranked right-handed starter since he signed. Reliever Eduardo Sanchez also makes his third straight showing at the top of the right-handed relievers.

The other repeaters are third baseman Zack Cox, corner outfielder Oscar Taveras and left-handed starting pitcher John Gast. Each is making his second consecutive appearance on the All-Prospect Team.

TCN/Scout.com St. Louis Cardinals All-Prospect Teams – 2006 through 2012

All-Prospects	2012	2011	2010
Catcher	Tony Cruz	Bryan Anderson	Robert Stock
First Base	Matt Adams	Mark Hamilton	Mark Hamilton
Second Base	Kolten Wong	Daniel Descalso	Daniel Descalso
Shortstop	Ryan Jackson	Pete Kozma	Pete Kozma
Third Base	Zack Cox	Zack Cox*	David Freese
Corner Outfield	Oscar Taveras	Oscar Taveras	Daryl Jones
Corner Outfield	Anthony Garcia	Allen Craig	Allen Craig
Centerfield	Charlie Tilson	Adron Chambers	Jon Jay
LH Starter	John Gast	John Gast	Jaime Garcia
RH Starter	Shelby Miller	Shelby Miller*	Shelby Miller*
LH Reliever	Sam Freeman
RH Reliever	Eduardo Sanchez	Eduardo Sanchez	Eduardo Sanchez
Player of Year		* Matt Carpenter
Pitcher of Year		* Brandon Dickson	* Lance Lynn
All-Prospects	2009	2008	2007
Catcher	Bryan Anderson	Bryan Anderson	Bryan Anderson
First Base	Curt Smith	Mark Hamilton	Mark Hamilton
Second Base	Jose Martinez	Jose Martinez	Jose Martinez
Shortstop	Pete Kozma	Pete Kozma	Tyler Greene
Third Base	Brett Wallace*	Allen Craig	Randy Roth
Corner Outfield	Nick Stavinoha	Joe Mather	Nick Stavinoha
Corner Outfield	Jon Jay	Jon Jay	Cody Haerther
Centerfield	Colby Rasmus	Colby Rasmus	Colby Rasmus
LH Starter	Jaime Garcia	Jaime Garcia	Jaime Garcia
RH Starter	Jess Todd	Adam Ottavino*	B. Hawksworth
Reliever	Jason Motte	Chris Perez	Chris Perez
Player of Year	* David Freese
Pitcher of Year		* P.J. Walters
All-Prospects	2006
Catcher	Bryan Anderson
First Base	Mike Ferris
Second Base	Jose Martinez
Shortstop	Tyler Greene
Third Base	Travis Hanson
Corner Outfield	Nick Stavinoha
Corner Outfield	Cody Haerther
Centerfield	Colby Rasmus
LH Starter	Eric Haberer
RH Starter	Anthony Reyes
Reliever	Tyler Johnson

Winners from the previous six seasons are listed for comparison purposes with our TCN/Scout.com Cardinals Minor League Pitcher and Player of the Year in those years listed in bold. The current winners are Shelby Miller and Matt Adams, respectively. For the first time since 2007, our choices are the same as the Cardinals organization’s selections.

While both the 2010 TCN Pitchers and Players of the Year, Brandon Dickson and Matt Carpenter, remained in the system, they did not make the All-Prospect Team either this year or last. It serves as another reminder that there is a difference between having a good season and being a top prospect.

The asterisks (*) denote those cases in past years when either our Pitcher or Player of the Year (or both) were not ranked as the top prospect in the system at their position in the following off-season.

In an oddity, four of our 2011 top prospect team members remain ranked in the top 40 prospect list, but have fallen off the 2012 All-Prospect Team due to others at their position passing them in the rankings. All four that dropped have MLB experience.

Jackson

Two of the four made their MLB debuts this past season. Shortstop Pete Kozma was since outranked by Ryan Jackson and centerfielder Adron Chambers was bumped by draft pick Charlie Tilson. Two other 2011 All-Prospect Team members, catcher Bryan Anderson and first baseman Mark Hamilton, made their big-league debuts in 2010, but were passed by Tony Cruz and Adams, respectively, in the 2012 prospect rankings.

Two players, second baseman Daniel Descalso and outfielder Allen Craig, left the All-Prospect Team after promotion to St. Louis. Descalso had been our top second baseman for two years running and has now been replaced by first-round draft pick Kolten Wong. Anthony Garcia makes his debut at one corner outfield position, taking Craig’s old spot. Sam Freeman captures the new spot this year, left-handed reliever.

In a reminder of the change in organizational strategy in favor of keeping top prospects, for the second consecutive year, none of the members of the previous year’s All-Prospect Team were dealt away. Two members of the 2009 team were traded during the ensuing season, Brett Wallace and Jess Todd.

In repeating, Cox broke the string of six different third baseman named to the All-Prospect Team in six years. That had been the position with the highest level of turnover over time. Before being overtaken by Cruz, Anderson had led the way with five selections in six years despite still being just 25 years old. Hamilton had been the top first baseman in four out of the last five years before being displaced by Adams.

Age and experience

All-Prospect Team	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
Average age	21.7	22.4	22.3	22.5	21.8	21.9
Average experience	AA	AA	AA	AAA	AA	A+

This year’s All-Prospect Team has a less-pronounced spread in ages, from three players at 19 years old to Cruz at 25 years of age. Last year, the low was one year younger and the high was one year older, plus there were two players at 26 (Hamilton and Craig). The average age of the 2012 players, 21.7 years, is the youngest since I have been announcing these teams.

The level reached by the average player is listed as Double-A, but mathematically, it is exactly on the line between Double-A and A-Advanced. In fact, the swinger was Sanchez actually pitching more innings in the majors than at Memphis. The fact that the All-Prospect Team is slightly less experienced than last year is not surprising since the average player age is over half a year younger in 2012.

Interestingly, only two of the 12 prospects played the majority of the 2011 campaign at Triple-A or above. For a third consecutive year, not a single Palm Beach (A-Advanced) player made the Top Prospect Team, though several saw time there during the season. Four of the 12 were primarily at Class A Quad Cities or below.



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Brian Walton can be reached via email at [e-mail]. Also catch his Cardinals commentary daily at The Cardinal Nation blog. Look for his weekly minor league column during the season at FOXSportsMidwest.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.

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